%% Artist gives blanket permission for non-commercial use of her work.%% Image kept on page per Image Pickin' thread: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1369353923009969200%% Please do not replace or remove without starting a new thread.%% Do NOT remove the link to the full image in the caption.%%[[quoteright:330:[[WesternAnimation/AvatarTheLastAirbender http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/avatar_shipping_war.jpg]]]][[caption-width-right:330:[[http://sora-ko.deviantart.com/art/Avatar-The-true-showdown-41464296 'Tis what you get]] when ''Avatar'' fans [[VisualPun go mad]].]]%%%% ExamplesAreNotRecent

->'''Casey Jones:''' Not even close, Zip-neck. Professor and Mary Ann. Happily ever after.\\'''Donatello:''' Heh! No way, Atomic Mouth. Gilligan was her main man. They'd be married and have six kids by now.\\'''Casey Jones:''' Gilligan was a geek, Barfarooni!\\'''Donatello:''' ''You're'' the geek, Camel Breath.\\'''Casey Jones:''' Dome Head.\\'''Donatello:''' [''feels his head for a bit''] Elf Lips.-->-- ''Film/TeenageMutantNinjaTurtles1990''

AKA Shipping Wars. Nothing to do with naval warfare[[note]]Unless ''VideoGame/KantaiCollection'' is involved[[/note]] ([[SpaceIsAnOcean or space warfare for that matter]]). [[{{Pun}} Or UPS vs. FedEx.]] Or the A&E RealityShow [[Series/ShippingWars based on the rivalry between a handful of independent truckers]].

Many fans {{ship|ping}}. Some of them have [[{{OTP}} a distinct ship that they like over all others]], while some of them support several, sometimes contradictory, pairings. Some of them like to debate a pairing while keeping in mind its status in canon, while some of them discuss it believing their pairing ''is'' {{canon}} (or, in the case of those who argue over what's going to happen like they think they're be pooling money for a bet, will inevitably be). [[{{GIFT}} Now throw in the power of the Internet to connect everybody (and everybody's opinions) with everybody else…]]

[[SeriousBusiness Shippers tend to become emotionally invested in their pairings]], and Internet shipping discussions can be quite difficult to keep peaceful. All too often, they can't help but devolve into heated quarrels where preferences are insulted, [[FlameWar ad hominem attacks are thrown]], and [[GodwinsLaw comparisons to Nazis are made]] (though, to be sure, the latter aspect is just as capable of arising from ''any'' subject of Internet disagreement currently known to exist).

These {{Flame War}}s are known as Shipping Wars: [[FanDumb verbal arguments between people with different opinions about romantic relationships between fictional characters]], though sometimes it can include real person fiction. There are those who bash whoever doesn't like their ship of choice, those who bash whoever likes a certain ship, and those who do both, usually basing their attacks on how canon/{{Fanon}} the discussed ship is. The fact that most ships really aren't canon and will never be is usually ignored. Particular hatred for a pairing or a character who gets in the way of a pairing manifests in the form of DieForOurShip. Alternatively, fans might pair that character with another character, getting him or her out of the way of their favorite ship. This creates "alliances" between different shippers called ShipMates.

Common victims include PlatonicLifePartners, HeterosexualLifePartners, and LovelyAngels. On one hand, [[ShippingGoggles lots of fans see]] {{Subtext}}, hints, and evidence [[AccidentalInnuendo where there really isn't]]; on the other, if there ''is'' some degree of subtext, other fans will adamantly refuse to see it and insult those who do. The DracoInLeatherPants also tends to be [[LauncherOfAThousandShips paired up a lot, and Shipping Wars erupt when deciding to whom he belongs.]]

Please note: someone just simply stating their opinion about whether they like a pairing or whether they think it's canon or not isn't Ship To Ship Combat or a ship war, that's just having a discussion. Or even when someone makes fun of a pairing. It's when the fans of a certain pairing start actually attacking and insulting the ''fans'' of another pairing that it becomes Ship To Ship Combat, such as if someone says they don't like a certain pairing or doesn't think it's canon and the fans of that pairing become enraged and start attacking that person for their opinion.

TropeCo, we'd like to order an emergency supply of MST3KMantra, please.

!!Other Examples[[folder:Web Original]]* The Shipping War with ''WebAnimation/{{RWBY}}'' that erupted after the events of "End of the Beginning" between the "Arkos" (Jaune Arc/Pyrrha Nikos) and the "Lancaster" (Jaune Arc/Ruby Rose) pairings. The end of "End of the Beginning" had [[spoiler:[[TheBigDamnKiss Pyrrha kissing Jaune]] and then [[KilledOffForReal dying at the hands of Cinder Fall]],]] leading to the "Arkos" pairing to suffer a ShipSinking. Many of those connected to that ship bailed over to "Lancaster" as a response ''(especially since "End of the Beginning" ends with Ruby and Jaune [along with Ren and Nora] leaving Patch and traveling to Haven)''. However, despite [[spoiler:Creator/MontyOum's ex-fiance and Pyrrha's own voice actress saying she was dead and that was the plan]], many "Arkos" shippers are still defiant that their ship is still viable, that [[spoiler:[[HesJustHiding she's not dead, but teleported away]],]] and that those who went over to "Lancaster" are traitors to the ship.** There is also a Shipping War between "Bumblebee"(Yang Xiao Long/Blake Belladonna) and "Eclipse" or "Black Sun"(Sun Wukong/Blake Belladonna) after the Volume 3 finale [[spoiler:had Adam refer to Yang as someone Blake loves and Yang act heartbroken after being abandoned by Blake]]. This gave hope to the shippers of Bumblebee, the most popular fan pairing, that they could actually beat out the seemingly obvious canon of Black Sun. Unfortunately, this lead to fans on both sides getting very defensive over their ship's chances and absolutely hating the other.** The fandom in general HATES Neptune and his Casanova ways, decrying all his ships except "Seamonkeys" (a HoYay ship that pairs him with his best friend Sun).[[/folder]]----